As some states battle over what teachers should teach and what materials should be removed from classrooms, students starting a new school year may be caught in the middle.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court is allowing controversial educational changes to move forward in the state, denying a stay in July to a group of parents, teachers and religious leaders who asked to halt to the implementation of new standards.
More: Oklahoma will require teachers from NY, CA to prove they back ‘America First’
Among revisions to the K-12 curriculum, high school students will be asked to “identify discrepancies” in 2020 election results.
“They’re going to do a deep dive and know all the data, all the information, all the graphs and charts involving that election,” said Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction, Ryan Walters.
More: ‘Breach of trust’: Oklahoma ed board members ask lawmakers to return social studies standards
Election fraud claims, put forth by President Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, were dismissed or withdrawn in more than 60 court cases.
“They (the standards) don’t have words like ‘analyze’ or ‘compare and contrast,'” said Sandra Valentine, a mother of five and educator in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “So they’re just telling you what to think and then you’re going to be tested on what they’re telling you to think.”
More: Oklahoma Supreme Court rules on request to halt new social studies standards
Sandra’s youngest daughter, Jade Valentine, is 14 and heading into her freshman year of high school.
“You really get to see who the people are in Oklahoma as you listen to them, see their opinions, see who listens,” said Jade. “And who doesn’t.”
Book removals in South Carolina schools
In other states, it’s not about what’s being added on campuses, but what’s being removed.
While states such as Florida and Utah have been implementing book bans for several years, the ACLU says South Carolina now has the most state-mandated book removals or restrictions in the country, at 22.
More: Florida book removal, student pronoun laws unconstitutional: Judge
The list includes acclaimed titles such as “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson.Most of the removals originated from a parent complaint.
Ivie Szalai submitted 96 books for review at schools in the region her children attended in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
WATCH the video above to hear more about book removals, changes and revisions.
“The books I’ve submitted for review were chosen solely because of sexually explicit content I believe is not age-appropriate for minors, regardless of the race, sexual orientation, or identity of the characters or authors,” Szalai wrote in an email.
Szalai told USA TODAY that she has resubmitted multiple books for review after a recent policy change, which permits parents to submit up to five books per month for review if the literature depicts sexual conduct. The policy says the parent must have a child enrolled in a public school. So it’s likely that after her latest submission, she won’t be allowed to do any more, since her youngest child recently graduated from the district.
Courtney Thomas, ACLU’s advocacy director in South Carolina, said book bans have concrete consequences for students.
“So often, the books that are banned or removed from classrooms and libraries often talk about the stories and lived experiences of the most marginalized students in our school districts,” Thomas said.
Religion in Texas classrooms
In South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas, schools are battling over religious expression.
A senate bill that goes into effect Sept. 1 requires every public school classroom in the state to display a 16- by 20-inch poster of the Ten Commandments on the wall.
More: Louisiana law ordering Ten Commandments in schools ruled unconstitutional. What’s next?
To Jonathan Covey, policy director for Texas Values, a faith-based nonprofit, this law makes sense.
“The Ten Commandments are important as a historical document because they’ve had a profound influence on the development of Western legal systems, moral philosophy and cultural traditions,” Covey said.
The Ten Commandments bill was temporarily halted by a judge in some school districts who ruled that the law violated the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he will appeal the decision.
More: Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas schools from enforcing Ten Commandments law
That law is among several concerns about school curriculum across the state, according to a prominent union, the Texas American Federation of Teachers.
“Some teachers are afraid to teach about the Holocaust, about civil rights challenges,” said Wanda Longoria, AFT secretary-treasurer and a former teacher. They’re afraid of a backlash from parents.
Longoria added: “It is the school’s job to teach you about our history, our struggles, the mistakes we’ve made as a nation and how to correct them, so that we become a stronger nation.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Back-to-school adds religion and revisions, removes books in states
